226 TRANSACTIONS OK ROYAL SCOTTISH ARIiORICL'LTL'RAL SOCIETY. 



is for ever — in memory of this occasion. I would ask Monsieur 

 Rauner to express to Jiis Government our most grateful thanks 

 for the very handsome present which he has brought us on this 

 occasion. Time is getting on, and we have all to catch trains, but 

 I cannot come to the end of what has been a very delightful 

 fortnight without the greatest regret, and without wishing that 

 the many pleasant acquaintances which have been formed here 

 may be destined to be taken up again in the future, either here 

 or in the countries and Dominions represented by our guests." 



The proceedings were then brought to a close by the singing 

 of " Auld Lang Syne " and " God Save the King." 



19. The Right Hon. Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson, 

 K.C.M.G., Hon. Secretary, 1898-1914. 



The resignation of Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson at last 

 Annual Meeting of the Society came as a great surprise, 

 particularly to members of Council with whom he had been 

 conferring on the business of the Society the previous after- 

 noon ; but when it was known that the reason for the resignation 

 was his selection by the King for the honourable position of 

 Governor-General of Australia, the surprise and disappointment 

 gave place 10 gratification and congratulation. 



To give any adequate account of the work of Sir Ronald in 

 the interests of forestry would involve the preparation of a 

 history of the Society for the past twenty years, as no one was more 

 intimately connected with all the various movements that were 

 initiated and developed during that period than he was While 

 it would be out of place to attempt to do this in the present 

 article, a few of the leading facts must be briefly referred to. 



It would, perhaps, be difficult to find a time when he was 

 not interested in forestry, but the first public recognition of such 

 interest appears to have been his appointment as a member of 

 the Select Committee of 1887. Two years later he became a 

 member of the Society, and began to take an active personal 

 interest in its affairs. He became a Vice-President in 1890, 

 and served as President from 1894 to the beginning of 1898. 

 On his retirement from that position, he was elected to the new 



